FORMULA ONE WOLRD CHAMPION NIGEL MANSELL BRINGS CYCLING BACK TO HIS HOME COUNTY ON 24TH JULY FOR UK YOUTH.

THE NIGEL MANSELL UK YOUTH CYCLE CHALLENGE WILL VISIT SOME OF THE REGIONS KEY LOCATIONS TO HIGHLIGHT THE 'POSITIVE ABOUT YOUTH' CAMPAIGN.

VISITING WELLAND STEAM FAIR, HIS HOME TOWN OF UPTON UPON SEVERN, THE DIGLIS BRIDGE & THE UNIVERSITY OF WORCESTER

THIS HAS BECOME POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF HIS LIFE, CYCLING
1200 MILES IN 13 DAYS AROUND BRITAIN WITH NO REST DAY, FROM THE 22ND JULY - 3RD AUGUST.

Nigel Mansell is undertaking what is probably one of the biggest challenges of his life: A 1,200-mile bike ride around the UK in 13 days without a rest day. The challenge is to promote UK Youth's 'Positive About Youth' campaign and to get communities excited about cycling. Starting at Kensington Place, London on the 22nd July and finishing at Canary Wharf on the 3rd August 2010

At 56, Nigel Mansell OBE, who was born in Upton Upon Seven, wanted to do something momentous to support the centenary campaign 'Positive About Youth' (www.positiveaboutyouth.org). Along with his sons Leo and Greg, Nigel will be accompanied by Magnus Backstedt, a former Tour de France racer and cycling legend. The team will begin their challenge on the 22nd July, arriving in Worcestershire on the 24th July.

This is not your normal sponsored bike ride, this is a challenge Nigel has set himself to focus the public's attention on the work of UK Youth and Bike Club.  The 'Positive about Youth' campaign seeks to encourage the public to adopt a more positive attitude to young people. Throughout the challenge, the former Formula One World Champion and the team will attend local events organised by Bike Clubs and communities across the country, highlighting the positive work being done to promote cycling and the great work that youth organisations do for young people and their families. Each regional event will get people out on their bikes, having fun and staying fit, providing both the young and the old with the opportunity to "GET INVOLVED" and find out why cycling is so much fun. 

  "This is UK Youth's centenary year and I want to do something really exacting to mark it." said Nigel.  "We are one of the largest youth charities in the UK and every day we challenge young people to do all sorts of new and exciting things in order to raise their aspirations and realize their potential - so I want to do something demanding as well and in doing so encourage everyone to be more supportive of young people at a time when they are suffering more than most in the recession.."

Worcestershire Events:

Welland Steam Fair
On the 24th July, The Nigel Mansell Cycle challenge has been invited to attend the Welland Steam Fair, to talk about UK Youth and the 'Positive About Youth' campaign. By this stage the team will be 200 miles into their 1200 miles challenge and will be looking forward to changing their two wheels for some steam-powered action. The Peloton are expected to arrive at the fair around 2:30pm

The organiser of the steam fair, Alan Probert said,

  "It is really great to have The Formula One World Champion coming to the fair. Everyone is talking about it and how special it is for the region, as Nigel was born here. It will be really great to see him and we hope the team will be able to drive one of our engines. I am really interested to see what he thinks of them, as they are so different to anything else he has ever driven before."

"This is going to be quite an interesting day for me and a great honour to ride through my home county. My busy schedule doesn't allow me to do these things normally. I have been told I may be driving a steam train too on the day, which will be a nice change from the saddle!" Nigel commented when told of his day's activities

Home Coming -  Upton upon Severn
This will be a special moment for Nigel Mansell, as this will be a big surprise for him as the Mayor and local towns people will welcome the Peloton as they ride through the town and stop to meet the Mayor or Upton upon Severn.

Diglis Bridge
Recently opened by the council, Diglis bridge is very much a flagship of connecting the people across the area and will be invaluable to not only the cycling communities. The bridge begins a range of plans by the council to develop their cycling facilities across the region, linking cycling lanes and routes. The bridge will also open up new opportunities for employment and social development, as travel times will be greatly reduced.

The arrival of Magnus Backstedt (known as Big Maggy) and the Formula One World Champion, Nigel Mansell to this location has created a lot of excitement with the local cycling communities and should present some fantastic photographic opportunities as cyclist and the Peloton meet  on the bridge.

The Peloton are expected to arrive at the bridge at around 3:30 PM (This is to be confirmed)

University of Worcester, Motion and Sports centre

The Motion and Performance Centre (MPC) is the research and consultancy arm of the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science, providing support for teaching, research, consultancy and other areas within the University.  

Opened as a research centre delivering breakthroughs in 3D motion analysis, the arrival of both the Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell and Tour de France legend Magnus Backstedt has been greeted with much excitement within the college.

Mick Donovan, Head of Institute of Sport and Exercise Science comments,
  "We are looking forward to showing Nigel, Magnus, the public and press the work we do here in sports analysis. I am also sure that the Peloton, after a grueling day of hard riding, will appreciate out Sports Therapist Team giving them a proper massage. We know how important that is for riders when they are involved in such extreme physical challenges like this - basically, a miniature Tour de France for them."

The Centre will also be inviting the press and public to try out some of their activities for themselves, which will give a greater understanding to them of how vital their work is in sports development.

"Attending the Sports Centre is going to be very interesting, the last six months I have been training nearly every day and rode thousands of miles in preparation for this challenge and the experience we had riding in London to Paris showed, how critical the constant support and development of sport is."
Nigel Mansell commented after hearing he would be visiting the centre.

Magnus Backstedt added his thoughts.

"It will be a great experience to be with Nigel and his two sons when they ride through their home town and I am really looking forward to it"

Magnus was also very interested in the Motion and Performance Centre, adding,

"This challenge will be a true test for me as well, as I will have to not only keep up the pace for 13 days for myself, but will also monitor on my bike's onboard computer how well the others are doing, so I can maximise the best from them and ensure we make the whole 13 days in time. I am very interested in what the centre does as I look after my own professional team and work with them every step of the way in every race they attend."  

Follow us on Twitter at "@ukyouth" - Don't forget to add the hashtag #nmc (Nigel Mansell Challenge) if you want to keep abreast of all that is happening from everybody in the challenge.

You will also be able to see where the riders are in real-time through the website www.nigelmansellcyclechallenge.co.uk and the link to Map My Tracks.

To support Nigel and UK Youth please text YOUTH to 84025.
Text donations cost 1.50 plus your standard operator charge for one text.  A minimum of 0.81 from each text message will be donated to UK Youth.  You must be over 16 and have the bill payer's permission to make a text donation.  For info contact: 01425 67510

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